Posts Tagged 'Raise'

The holiday season for many of us is a time for giving and reflecting back on what we are thankful for, and this year has been an awesome one for SoftLayer. As a result of that awesomeness, we've been able to help several organizations raise money and awareness ... So many that we recently created a Charity Committee to find groups and organizations we can support in the future. Why would we need a committee to do that? Here's a snapshot of a few of the organizations we've helped this year:

Carter BloodCare – Carter BloodCare is a blood center who delivers 330,000 units of lifesaving blood components each year. This year the organization setup a mobile blood drive outside of our headquarters so that any employee who wished to donate could. To learn more about Carter BloodCare, visit http://carterbloodcare.org/.

Gulf Coast Regional Blood Center - The SLayers in Dallas weren't the only ones with an opportunity to donate blood. In Houston, the Gulf Coast Regional Blood Center set up shop in one of our conference rooms to accept donations. The Gulf Coast Regional Blood Center serves the largest medical campus in the world, so they're always grateful for people who "Commit For Life." To learn more about the Gulf Coast Regional Blood Center, go to http://giveblood.org/.

American Heart Association – American Heart Association's mission is "To build healthier lives, free of cardiovascular diseases and stroke." This year SoftLayer split up into teams to compete to see who could raise the most money. The Marketing team alone raised over $7,500! To learn more about the American Heart Association, make your way over to http://heart.org/.

North Texas Food Bank - The North Texas Food Bank is a nonprofit organization on a mission to create a hunger-free community. They currently operate 1,146 feeding programs around North Texas, and our Dallas office brought in nonperishable food items to donate. Check them out at http://ntfb.org/.

Houston Food Bank – Like the blood drives, our Houston crew wasn't going to be left behind when it came to supporting a local food bank. The Houston Food Bank is the largest Feeding America food bank in the nation. They currently feed around 865,000 people each year. Learn more at http://houstonfoodbank.org/.

Captain Hope's Kids – Captain Hope's Kids is an organization that helps homeless children to live as close to a normal life as possible. Aside from monetary donations they collect items like coats, toys, school supplies, and even baby formula. Visit their website at http://captainhope.org/.

Tour De Pink – Tour De Pink is an annual bike ride in Texas that raises money for breast cancer research, education and awareness campaigns. Head over to http://www.tourdepink.org/ to get the current fundraising total for 2011. Right now, they're just a hair under $350,000 raised. SoftLayer was honored to be the presenting sponsor of Tour De Pink, and we're looking forward to next year!

Toys for Tots – The U.S. Marine Corps Reserve Toys for Tots Program collects new and unwrapped toys for children who are less fortunate. The program then delivers these toys as Christmas gifts to the needy children in the community. In SoftLayer's offices, SLayers were encouraged to bring in new, unwrapped toys and gifts to give through this program. http://toysfortots.org/ has all the information you need about that program.

Community in Schools – Community in Schools is an organization that connects kids in school with mentors who can help them with problems inside and outside of the classroom. Many SoftLayer employees volunteer their time each week to help tutor and mentor kids in the Dallas area. If it's something you might like to get involved with, the Community in Schools website for the Dallas region is http://www.cisdallas.org/.

The other day someone said to me "If you can help and you are able to, then you should," and I am so grateful to be a part of a company who can help and does.